5 Questions with Author Stacia D. Kelly

Over a decade ago, I met Stacia D. Kelly at my husband's new job. We quickly bonded over writing and many other interests especially in paranormal stories and romance. She encouraged me to write my first full-length romance, and I've never looked back. Since then, we've challenged and supported each other in our storytelling. I probably wouldn't have gone in this direction without her initial encouragement, which is why I wanted to highlight her latest and greatest work for my blog.

1. Phyxe: Goddess of Fire is the first book in your series of The Goddess Chronicles. Please tell us about your story and the heroine Phyxe.
   Phyxe and her sisters came to me loosely at an RWA conference. It must have been 2005? I'd finished my book Feral Fires and was looking to pitch it at the conference. During one of the sessions, an idea came to me about a Snow Queen/Goddess ... that was the beginning of the Goddess Chronicles. I took a picture of the actual note for you. :) Glacial was the first character to come to me, but Phyxe soon took over, as she often does. The Goddess of Fire is not really known for her patience. So, that November, after a motorcycle accident, during NANOWRIMO, I knocked out the draft of Phyxe in about 2 1/2 weeks—broken collarbone and all. I was feeling a little angry with myself, so I think it helped to fuel the story. Phyxe is pure fire. She loves to fight, live to the extremes so you can imagine that when she gets trapped on a planet without her powers, she's more than a little ticked off. (Yes, I'm sure my being trapped in a sling with limited movement had a lot to do with the storyline too.) She's about feeling and moving. Pair her up with the Lord of the Planet, square her off with a demon, and all sorts of sparks ignite. 
2. Your mythology for Phyxe and her sister goddesses appear unique to the world you built. Did any myths inspire your goddesses and their backgrounds?
   I can't say that I adhere to any myths with the sisters. Instead, they are true to their elemental natures. Phyxe is the go-getter. Gaian, the Goddess of Earth, is obviously more down to earth, the strategist. Glacial, Goddess of Water, is ethereal and in her head. Wystin, Goddess of Air, flows in whichever direction she chooses and somehow ended up as the techie. Zhanne, Goddess of Energy, is just a bitch—according to the others. Each book has evolved and enhanced the universe I started out with. Wystin's story took the entire series in a tailspin and has actually been the hardest to write. I'm sure I'll say that about Zhanne when I get to her. 
3. Phyxe is the goddess of fire and her sisters represent other elements: earth, water, and air. Plus, you introduce a goddess of energy who oversees them all. If you could choose one elemental power, which one would it be?
   Oh, make it super hard and not let me say all of them? LOL. I'd choose any one of them at any given time. Right now? I'd probably go with Gaian, earth. She has the physicality I like. She shapeshifts into a beautiful tiger and has the patience of a saint. 
4. Along with writing fiction, you also wrote a book about health and fitness, Reduce You, and another book about mental well-being for writers, Muse. Do any of your lifestyle fitness and health practices influence the way you write your characters and their stories?
   Good question! My martial arts background strongly influences my fight scenes. I've been accused of making them short and full of impact, which is how a fight actually works. I know my health practices, especially the stress management ones play strongly across all my fiction writing, not just the Goddess Chronicles. You can see it in Glacial's meditations and Wystin's concentration. You can feel it when Phyxe steps in to the fire. Not that I'm stepping into fire anytime soon ;) 
5. What are you working on now?
   Hmmm, everything? Last year, I managed to only get Reduce You out. I really wanted to release one fiction and one non-fiction, but time got away from me. Now? I have final edits to do on Gaian. I'm determined the Goddess of Earth is going to be published this year. I have over 36 manuscripts (fiction) in various stages on my hard drive. Time to get them out. So, this year might be a flurry of activity if I can make myself focus. And, as N.S. Kelly, I have been co-writing an Urban Samurai series. ICHI, the first in the series, will be released this year if we stay on task. I've also been working on getting all the older, handwritten stuff into the computer. There's some YA Paranormal hiding in there that would be perfect for the current interest levels. That will bump up my count by several more. It's amazing when I look at it all ... I've never not been writing :) 

You can find Stacia at her website: www.sybir.comand on Twitter @StaciaKelly.

Purchase Phyxe: Goddess of Fire at Amazon.com.